Lunar Eclipse

FAM, Leganés

Just to let everyone know that there will be a full eclipse of the moon tonight. Apparently the event will start around 21:30 CET (20:30 GMT) and continue into the night until around 3:00 CET. I read somewhere that the moon will be fully eclipsed during a 75 minute window starting around 0:00 CET. This is a lunar eclipse, not a solar eclipse – so it is when the earth moves between the sun and the moon, which blocks the direct light from the moon, leaving it illuminated by refracted light from around the earth’s atmosphere. In most cases, this will cause the moon to appear red, or at least some colour other than what we are normally used to seeing. Obviously since this involves the moon there is no risk of looking “right at it”, in fact since this will be most visible at night, the sun won’t even be out. The best views of this will be in Europe, Western Asia, and Africa, places where it will be dark, and therefore on the correct side of the planet when this is occurring. I guess eastern North America will be able to see it a bit as well… good news for Nova Scotians :)

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Written by Colin Bate